Florida’s Groundbreaking Pilot: $3M+ to Serve Youth Caught Between Two Systems

DJJ seeks non-profit to manage Miami-Dade program serving youth navigating both juvenile justice and child welfare simultaneously.

The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice just released RFP #10991—and it represents something I haven’t seen in over a decade of government service: a comprehensive pilot program specifically targeting youth who fall through the cracks between Florida’s juvenile justice and child welfare systems.

Released October 24, 2025, this procurement seeks a non-profit organization to operate an innovative program serving up to 72 youth in Miami-Dade County who are simultaneously under juvenile delinquency supervision AND dependency supervision. These are kids dealing with both criminal charges and family circumstances serious enough that DCF removed them from their homes.

If your organization has experience with intensive in-home services for high-risk youth, this opportunity deserves serious attention.

What Makes This Different: The Dual-System Challenge

Here’s the reality most people don’t see: thousands of Florida youth are involved in both the juvenile justice system (delinquency cases through DJJ) and the child welfare system (dependency cases through DCF). They’re on probation for criminal offenses while simultaneously in foster care or other out-of-home placements because their families can’t safely care for them.

These “dually involved” youth face cascading challenges—trauma, behavioral health needs, placement instability, academic disruption, and the confusing reality of navigating two separate bureaucracies with different rules, different case managers, and different expectations.

The current approach? Typically, these youth have separate case managers from DJJ and DCF, creating coordination nightmares. Services get duplicated. Information doesn’t flow. Nobody has the complete picture. And the youth themselves are shuttling between appointments, court hearings, and meetings with various professionals who may or may not be talking to each other.

This pilot program aims to fundamentally change that dynamic.

The Legislative Mandate

The Florida Legislature specifically appropriated funds in Chapter 2025-198, Laws of Florida, Specific Appropriation 1120, directing DJJ to establish this pilot. The legislative language is unusually prescriptive, requiring “at a minimum”:

• Unified case managers cross-trained in both child welfare and juvenile justice
• An intensive in-home multidisciplinary team of behavioral health professionals
• Delivery of necessary therapeutic interventions and care coordination across agencies and systems

The Legislature also mandated competitive procurement from non-profit organizations with experience providing intensive in-home, wraparound services for dually involved youth. This isn’t a request for general juvenile services—it’s a specialized program requiring proven expertise with this specific population.

Who’s Eligible: The Three-Part Test

Youth must meet all three criteria simultaneously to participate:

1. Active delinquency case disposed to Probation under DJJ supervision in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit (Miami-Dade)
2. Active dependency case under DCF supervision with placement in foster care, relative placement, or other out-of-home placement (or in-home under protective supervision)
3. Diagnosed mental health and/or substance abuse disorder warranting treatment services, confirmed by qualified professional assessment

The critical insight: these criteria don’t need to occur in any particular order. A youth on probation with behavioral health needs becomes eligible once a dependency case opens. A youth in foster care with behavioral health needs becomes eligible once they’re placed on probation. The program is designed to capture youth at whatever point the dual-system involvement crystallizes.

The Staffing Model: Why This Requires Specialized Organizations

DJJ structured this program with very specific staffing requirements that immediately narrow the field of qualified respondents:

Unified Case Managers (9 positions)

These aren’t regular case managers—they must maintain dual certification as both:

• Juvenile Probation Officers (Chapter 63H-3, F.A.C.)
• Child Welfare Case Managers (Chapter 65C-33, F.A.C.)

Each UCM carries a maximum caseload of 8 youth (with temporary flexibility up to 12 during staffing transitions, but never exceeding 72 total program participants). They perform all functions required of JPOs and CWCMs under Florida law, DJJ/DCF policies, and both delinquency and dependency court orders.

This dual-certification requirement is significant. Most organizations specialize in either juvenile justice or child welfare—not both. Finding or training staff who can navigate both systems competently requires substantial organizational infrastructure.

UCM Supervisors (2 positions)

Like UCMs, supervisors must also maintain dual certification in both systems. They provide oversight but don’t carry caseloads unless DJJ and DCF approve on a case-by-case basis.

Intensive In-Home Multidisciplinary Team (13 positions)

This is where the program’s clinical firepower resides:

• 7 mental health/substance abuse professionals (minimum 4 must be licensed; others under licensed supervision)
• 1 clinical coordinator
• 1 administrator
• 5 care coordinators/life coaches

This team delivers the actual therapeutic interventions: comprehensive evaluations, individualized treatment plans, individual and family therapy, multidisciplinary team meetings, clinical case management, drug screening, progress reporting, and discharge planning. They work in the youth’s home whenever possible, bringing services to where the youth actually lives rather than expecting troubled families to navigate appointments at office locations.

The Service Model: Integration, Not Duplication

What makes this program innovative isn’t just the staffing—it’s the integrated service delivery model.

Unified supervision means one case manager handling both delinquency and dependency requirements. No more conflicting directives from separate DJJ and DCF workers. No more youth missing probation appointments because of dependency court hearings, or vice versa.

Intensive in-home services means therapists and care coordinators coming to the youth’s placement (whether foster home, relative placement, or wherever they’re living) rather than requiring already-disrupted families to maintain office appointment schedules.

Multidisciplinary coordination means behavioral health professionals, case managers, and care coordinators actually meeting together regularly to discuss each youth’s progress, adjust treatment plans, and coordinate across systems.

Cross-system data collection means tracking outcomes that matter: academic performance, criminal involvement, placement stability. The Legislature explicitly required this data collection, recognizing that serving dually involved youth requires measuring success across multiple domains.

The Procurement Reality: Who Can Compete?

Having reviewed hundreds of DJJ procurements during my government service, I can identify the organizational characteristics likely to succeed here:

Strong Candidates

• Established non-profits with dual-system experience: Organizations already serving both DJJ and DCF populations, particularly in Miami-Dade
• Current CBC lead agencies or subcontractors: Entities with existing DCF community-based care contracts who understand dependency case management
• Specialized wraparound service providers: Non-profits with proven intensive in-home service delivery models for high-risk youth
• Organizations with behavioral health licensing: Groups already licensed to provide mental health and substance abuse services

Organizational Prerequisites

To compete credibly, respondents need:

Physical presence in Miami-Dade County – DJJ explicitly requires at least one office location in Circuit 11

Capacity for dual certification – Either existing staff with both JPO and CWCM certifications, or infrastructure to train and certify new hires in both systems

Licensed clinical staff – Minimum 4 licensed mental health/substance abuse professionals on the multidisciplinary team

Medicaid enrollment – Youth served will often be Medicaid-eligible; first-party billing capability maximizes available funding

Contract management infrastructure – This program requires coordination with DJJ, DCF, Miami-Dade school district, courts, and other stakeholders. Organizations need administrative capacity to handle complex compliance requirements.

The Challenge: Operationalizing Dual Certification

The biggest operational challenge isn’t finding experienced youth services staff—it’s finding or creating staff who can navigate both systems competently.

Juvenile probation officers and child welfare case managers typically operate in separate professional worlds. They’re trained differently, use different assessment tools, follow different policies, attend different professional development, and even speak slightly different professional languages.

This program requires staff who can:

• Conduct JPO supervision contacts AND dependency case planning meetings
• Navigate delinquency court hearings AND dependency court hearings
• Understand DJJ policies AND DCF policies
• Use JJIS (Juvenile Justice Information System) AND FSFN (Florida Safe Families Network)
• Maintain both certifications current through required continuing education

Organizations competing for this contract need realistic plans for recruiting, training, certifying, and retaining these specialized professionals. Vague promises about “cross-training existing staff” won’t cut it—evaluators will look for concrete implementation plans.

The Coordination Complexity

Beyond staffing, successful contractors must navigate a complex coordination environment:

DJJ oversight – The program operates as a contracted supervision unit under DJJ’s Circuit 11 Chief Probation Officer. All case management decisions flow through DJJ protocols.

DCF coordination – UCMs must simultaneously comply with DCF policies as community-based care contractors or subcontractors.

Miami-Dade Unified Children’s Court – Youth are under the jurisdiction of specialized court hearing both delinquency and dependency matters together.

School system collaboration – Academic performance is a key outcome metric; contractors must coordinate with Miami-Dade schools.

Community partners – Mental health providers, substance abuse treatment, housing support, and other wraparound services require external coordination.

This isn’t a program any organization can run in isolation. Successful respondents will demonstrate existing relationships with key Miami-Dade stakeholders and proven ability to coordinate across multiple systems.

The Data Collection Mandate

The Legislature wasn’t subtle: they want measurable outcomes. DJJ explicitly requires contractors to “collect and report output and outcome data on clients and their families including, but not limited to, measures of academic performance, criminal involvement, and placement stability.”

This means contractors need:

• Data systems capable of tracking multiple outcome domains
• Staff capacity to document activities and outcomes consistently
• Reporting protocols to deliver required data to DJJ on schedule
• Evaluation readiness to support potential program assessment

For non-profits accustomed to narrative program descriptions, this level of quantitative accountability may require infrastructure investment. Organizations with existing data collection capabilities—particularly those already reporting to DJJ or DCF—have competitive advantages.

Why This Pilot Matters Beyond Miami-Dade

While this RFP is limited to Miami-Dade County and a maximum of 72 youth, the implications extend statewide.

Florida has hundreds—possibly thousands—of dually involved youth across all circuits. If this pilot demonstrates that unified case management and intensive in-home services improve outcomes and reduce costs, the model could expand.

For non-profit providers, succeeding in this pilot creates proof of concept for future contracts. For Florida’s juvenile justice and child welfare systems, it tests whether integration can overcome the coordination failures inherent in parallel system involvement.

The Legislature funded this as a pilot precisely because they want data on whether this approach works better than current practices. Organizations selected for this contract aren’t just providing services—they’re helping answer a policy question with statewide significance.

The Non-Profit Requirement: Why It Matters

Unlike many DJJ procurements open to both for-profit and non-profit entities, this RFP explicitly requires non-profit status. The Legislature mandated competitive procurement “with non-profit organizations.”

This requirement reflects recognition that serving dually involved youth requires mission-driven organizations willing to navigate complex systems for outcomes beyond profit margins. It also acknowledges that non-profits often have deeper community connections and more flexibility to coordinate across funding streams—critical for a program requiring integration of DJJ, DCF, Medicaid, and other resources.

For-profit behavioral health companies or juvenile service providers should not waste proposal resources—you’re statutorily excluded from competing regardless of your qualifications.

What Happens Next

Interested non-profits should immediately:

1. Review the complete RFP package on DJJ’s procurement website
2. Assess organizational capacity for dual certification and intensive in-home service delivery
3. Evaluate Miami-Dade presence and relationships with key stakeholders
4. Review existing DCF relationships (as CBC lead agency or subcontractor status matters)
5. Examine clinical licensing and capacity to staff the multidisciplinary team
6. Consider partnership strategies if your organization has strength in one area (e.g., behavioral health) but needs partners for others (e.g., case management)

The calendar of events will specify proposal deadlines and evaluation timelines—organizations should monitor the Vendor Information Portal for these critical dates.

The Strategic Insight

This RFP represents the Legislature’s recognition that dually involved youth need fundamentally different service delivery—not just better coordination of existing fragmented approaches.

By requiring unified case managers with dual certification and intensive in-home multidisciplinary teams, the Legislature is betting that integration beats coordination. They’re testing whether collapsing two separate case management systems into one produces better outcomes for Florida’s most vulnerable youth.

For qualified non-profits, this procurement offers the opportunity to operate an innovative program with legislative backing, dedicated funding, and potential for statewide replication if successful.

But make no mistake—this is complex, demanding work requiring sophisticated organizational infrastructure, specialized staff, and proven ability to navigate multiple systems simultaneously. Organizations should compete only if they genuinely have the capacity to deliver what this population needs.